William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) was baptised at Stratford upon Avon in April, 1564 (his exact date of birth is unknown). He was the third and the eldest son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. His parents were one of the most prodigious people in Stratford.

Marriage
In December, 1582, he married Ann Hathaway, who was the daughter of a farmer that lived near Stratford. They had three children: Susanna and the twins, Hamnet and Judith. Susanna was baptised in 1583 and the twins were baptised in 1585.

Not much is known about Shakespeare, but legend has it that he had fled from Stratford because he was in trouble of stealing deer or he had been a schoolmaster for a time. However, none of these are known to be true or false.

His Life as a Dramatist
In March, 1592, it is known that he had started to work in theater. From 1593 onwards, he suddenly became a famous playwright. At this time, he was also in touch with the most famous tragedians and the actors that played in the most famous Elizabethan theaters.

In 1593 he published the poem Venus and Adonis and in 1594 he published his second poem, The Rape of Lucrece. Both poems were dedicated to Southampton. As the plague had outbroken in 1593, there was little playing. In the autumn of 1594, however, the plague was ceased and the theaters had started to work again. During this period, Shakespeare worked for Lord Chamberlain's company, and he wrote the three parts of Henry VI, Richard III, Titus Andronicus, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Love's Labor's Lost, The Comedy of Errors, and The Taming of the Shrew. Soon, he also wrote his plays of greater fame, like Romeo and Juliet. In 1596, he bought New Place and his father purhased a coat-of-arms. These officially showed that Shakespeare and his family were gentlefolk. A Midsummer Night's Dream, his play that this wiki is dedicated to was written in August, 1597.

Due to some disputes, the company left the theater in 1597, and it is re-established with the name The Globe in 1598. In the same year, Shakespeare started writing more mature tragedies like As You Like it and Julies Caesar.

After the Establishment of King's Men
On March 24, 1603, Queen Elizabeth died. The company had often performed before her, but her successor was revealed to be a much more enthusiastic patron. This enthusiasm was of such high level that King James, their new "patron" purchased the company and he promoted all members of the company as his servants. Now the company was known as The King's Men. Shortly before this event, he had written more somber comedies like All's Well that Ends Well and Measure for Measure. These were followed by Othello, Macbeth and King Lear. Then he returned to Roman themes with Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus.

Shakespeare had been writing less since 1601, and rival dramatists were introducing new styles of drama, like tragi-comedy, a tragedia that started with sad events but ended well. In 1608, the King's Men acquired a second playhouse that was an indoor private theater. The indoor theaters were more expensive to enter than the public theaters, but the audience too was getting more selectitive over time. Meanwhile, Shakespeare wrote the tragi-comedic plays Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale and The Tempest, which were acted at Court in 1611.

Retirement, Death and Legacy
For the last four years of his life, he lived in retirement. His son Hamnet had died in 1596 and his two daughters were married.

William Shakespeare died at Stanford upon Avon on April 23, 1616, and was buried in the chancel of the church. When Shakespeare died, fourteen of his plays had been seperately published in Quarto booklets. In 1623, his surviving fellow actors, John Heming and Henry Condell published a collection of thirty-six plays in one Folio volume. The plays that were printed in Quarto or Folio are very different from that of the modern printing, because the text of the play was not divided to scenes and acts (as there was no scenery in the Elizabethan Theater) and their spellings were erratic.

Before 1594

 * Henry VI (in three parts, first folio printed in 1623)


 * Richard III (first printed in 1597)
 * Titus Andronicus (first printed in 1594)
 * Love's Labor's Lost (first printed in 1594)
 * The Two Gentlemen of Verona (first printed in 1598)
 * The Comedy of Errors (first printed in 1598)
 * The Taming of the Shrew (first printed in 1598)

Between 1594 - 1597

 * Romeo and Juliet (pirated in 1597, first legally printed in 1599)


 * A Midsummer Night's Dream (first printed in 1600)


 * Richard II (first printed in 1597)


 * King John (first printed in 1597)


 * The Merchant of Venice (first printed in 1600)

Between 1597 - 1600

 * Henry IV - Part I (first printed in 1598)


 * Henry IV - Part II (first printed in 1600)


 * Henry V (pirated and first legally printed in 1600)


 * Much Ado About Nothing (first printed in 1600)


 * Merry Wives of Windsor (first printed in 1600, pirated in 1602)


 * As You Like it (first printed in 1600)


 * Julius Caesar (first printed in 1600)


 * Troylus and Cressida (first printed in 1609)

Between 1601 - 1608

 * Hamlet (pirated in 1603, first legally printed in 1604)


 * Twelfth Night (first printed in 1604)


 * Measure for Measure (first printed in 1604)


 * All's Well That Ends Well (first printed in 1604)


 * Othello (first printed in 1622)


 * Lear (first printed in 1608)


 * Macbeth (first printed in 1608)
 * Timon of Athens (first printed in 1608)


 * Antony and Cleopatra (first printed in 1608)


 * Coriolanus (first printed in 1608)

After 1608

 * Pericles (first printed in 1609)


 * Cymbeline (first printed in 1609)


 * The Winter's Tale (first printed in 1609)


 * The Tempest (first printed in 1609)


 * Henry VIII (first printed in 1609)

Poems, writing date unknown

 * Venus and Adonis (first printed in 1593)


 * The Rape of Lucrece (first printed in 1594)


 * Sonnets (first printed in 1609)


 * A Lover's Complaint (first printed in 1609)


 * The Phoenix and the Turtle (first printed in 1601

Source

 * Shakespeare, William: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Penguin Popular Classics, 1994, pgs. 6 - 11.